Children anxiously await the end of the ceremony and the actual opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)Buy Photo

The opening of a splash pad Wednesday at a Gulf Breeze park was a bittersweet occasion for Chelsie O'Leary.

There was pride from O'Leary that her son, Rowan, and other children would now have a chance to romp in the water as it shot out of a sea turtle, rained down from dolphins and poured out of a canon at Sunset Kids Park on Shoreline Drive.

But there was also a little sadness from O'Leary that her mother, Denise Marie Biggs, was not at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that afternoon.

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Ryleigh Watts, 7, is drenched with water as she sits on a turtle shaped fountain during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

Asa Taylor, 5, right, walks face first into a stream of water during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

Colin Schlosser, 5, right, taunts the kids shooting the water cannons to squirt him during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

Sharon Clark, 3, ducks behind her father Brian Clark as he takes the brunt of a water bucket dump during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

Chelsea McGehee watches as her 15-month-old daughter Blake tentatively checks out the spurting water during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

Ben, center, and other children anxiously await the end of the ceremony and the actual opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

Memorial to former Gulf Breeze Recreation Center Facility coordinator Denise Biggs that was unveiled during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

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Biggs, a longtime city of Gulf Breeze employee, was the visionary for the Dolphin Island Splash Pad and "the spark" behind it. She died of pulmonary fibrosis on March 31 at age 60.

The splash pad was a project Biggs planned for years, O'Leary said, adding her mother wanted kids like Rowan, now 18 months old, to have such a facility in their city.

"Bound and determined, that's pretty much how she rolled," O'Leary said of her mother, who worked at the Gulf Breeze Recreation Center for more than two decades.

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Colin Schlosser, 5, right, taunts kids shooting the water cannons to squirt him during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)

While Biggs had the dream for the splash pad, the city made it a reality late last year when it approved the $220,000 project, which is part of a $5 million liveable city master plan adopted by the Gulf Breeze City Council in 2013.

Two Gulf Breeze organizations also chipped in to contribute to the project. Nonprofit Gulf Breeze Will Do and the Driftwood Garden Club donated funds that went toward a shading canopy, as well as seating inside and outside the splash pad's fence.

Ron Pulley, the city's director of parks and recreation, was Biggs' boss and spoke glowingly of her in his remarks, echoing the comments of Gulf Breeze Mayor Matt Dannheisser that she was "the spark" for the splash pad.

"She virtually reminded me every day how much we need it," Pulley said. "I'm heartbroken that she's not here to share this day with us, but I know that she sees us all and she shares in our excitement."

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Asa Taylor, 5, right, walks face first into a stream of water during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)

One of the first kids to use the splash pad on Wednesday was 7-year-old Ryleigh Watts, who is Biggs' great-niece.

Ryleigh played in the splash pad while her brother, Reid, 3, stood off to the side.

"It has tons of water," Ryleigh said, adding she wasn't sure if she preferred the dolphins or the sea turtle.

"I don't know which one," she said. "The dolphin blows water and you can get under it. The sea turtle you can get on top it."

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Ryleigh Watts, 7, is drenched with water as she sits on a turtle shaped fountain during the grand opening of the new Dolphin Island Splash Pad at Sunset Kids Park in Gulf Breeze on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)

O'Leary and her brother, Forrest Biggs, officially opened the splash pad by cutting the ribbon with a large pair of scissors.

"This is amazing," O'Leary said later, adding she wasn't expecting to do the honors, handed to her during the ceremony by Dannheisser. "It's awesome. We are so thrilled."